2017–18 in English football
England | season = 2017–18 | division1 = Premier League | champions1 = Manchester City | division2 = Championship | champions2 = Wolverhampton Wanderers | division3 = League One | champions3 = Wigan Athletic | division4 = League Two | champions4 = Accrington Stanley | division5 = National League | champions5 = Macclesfield Town | domestic = FA Cup | dchampions = Chelsea | leaguecup = League Cup | lchampions = Manchester City | supercup = Community Shield | schampions = Arsenal | prevseason = 2016–17 | nextseason = 2018–19 }} The 2017–18 season was the 138th season of competitive association football in England. National teams England national football team Results and fixtures Friendlies |score = 0–0 |team2 = |report = Report |goals1 = Gomez Livermore |goals2 = |stadium = Wembley Stadium |location = London, England |attendance = 81,382 |referee = Pawel Raczkowski (Poland) |result = d |id=}} |score = 0–0 |team2 = |report = Report |goals1 = Livermore |goals2 = Alves |stadium = Wembley Stadium |location = London, England |attendance = 84,595 |referee = Artur Dias Soares (Portugal) |result = d }} |score = 0–1 |team2 = |report = Report |goals1 = |goals2 = Lingard |location = Amsterdam, Netherlands |stadium = Amsterdam Arena |attendance = |referee = Jesús Gil Manzano (Spain) |result = w }} |score = 1–1 |team2 = |report = |goals1 = Vardy |goals2 = Insigne |location = London, England |attendance = 82,598 |stadium = Wembley Stadium |referee = Deniz Aytekin (Germany) |result = t }} |score = 2–1 |team2 = |report = Report |goals1 = Cahill Kane |goals2 = Iwobi |location = London, England |stadium = Wembley Stadium |attendance = 70,025 |referee = Marco Guida (Italy) |result = w }} |score = 2–0 |team2 = |report = Report |goals1 = Rashford Welbeck |goals2 = |location = Leeds, England |stadium = Elland Road |attendance = 36,104 |referee = Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan) |result = w }} 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) =Group F = |score = 0–4 |team2 = |report = Report |goals1 = |goals2 = Kane Bertrand Welbeck |stadium = Ta' Qali National Stadium |location = Ta' Qali, Malta |attendance = 16,994 |referee = Artur Dias Soares (Portugal) |result = W }} |score = 2–1 |team2 = |report = Report |goals1 = Dier Rashford |goals2 = Lobotka |stadium = Wembley Stadium |location = London, England |attendance = 67,823 |referee = Clément Turpin (France) |result = W }} |score = 1–0 |team2 = |report = Report |goals1 = Stones Kane |goals2 = Krhin Mevlja Rotman Struna Birsa |stadium = Wembley Stadium |location = London, England |attendance = 61,598 |referee = Felix Zwayer (Germany) |result = w }} |score = 0–1 |team2 = |report = Report |goals1 = Slivka |goals2 = Kane |stadium = LFF Stadium |location = Vilnius, Lithuania |attendance = 5,067 |referee = Orel Grinfeld (Israel) |result = w }} 2018 FIFA World Cup =Group G = Matches |score = |team2 = |report = |goals1 = |goals2 = |location = Volgograd, Russia |stadium = Volgograd Arena |attendance = |referee = |result = }} |score = |team2 = |report = |goals1 = |goals2 = |location = Nizhny Novgorod, Russia |stadium = Nizhny Novgorod Stadium |attendance = |referee = |result = }} |score = |team2 = |report = |goals1 = |goals2 = |location = Kaliningrad, Russia |stadium = Kaliningrad Stadium |attendance = |referee = |result = }} Managerial changes UEFA competitions UEFA Champions League Play-off round |} Group stage Group A Group C Group E Group F Group H Knockout phase Round of 16 ||4–3| Tottenham Hotspur||2–2|2–1}} ||2–5| Manchester City||0–4|2–1}} ||0–5| Liverpool||0–5|0–0}} ||2–1| Manchester United||0–0|2–1}} ||1–4| Barcelona||1–1|0–3}} |} Quarter-finals |} Semi-finals |} Final |time = 20:45 CEST |team1 = Real Madrid |score = 3–1 |team2 = Liverpool |goals1 = Benzema Bale |goals2 = Mané |stadium = NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev |attendance = 61,561 |referee = Milorad Mažić (Serbia) |report = UEFA Report BBC Report }} UEFA Europa League Qualifying rounds Third qualifying round |} Play-off round |} Group stage Group E Group H Knockout phase Round of 32 |} Round of 16 |} Quarter-finals |} Semi-finals |} Final |time = 20:45 CEST |team1 = Marseille |score = 0–3 |team2 = Atlético Madrid |goals1 = |goals2 = Griezmann Gabi |stadium = Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Décines-Charpieu |attendance = 55,768 |referee = Björn Kuipers (Netherlands) |report = Report }} UEFA Super Cup |time=20:45 CEST |team1=Real Madrid |score=2–1 |report= Report |team2= Manchester United |goals1=Casemiro Isco |goals2=Lukaku |stadium=Philip II Arena, Skopje |attendance= |referee=Gianluca Rocchi (Italy) }} Men's football League season Promotion and relegation Premier League In what was largely a one-sided race for the title, Manchester City won the Premier League for the third time in six years, breaking records for the highest number of goals scored by one team in a league campaign and the most victories as well as gathering the most points, becoming the first top-flight team to reach the 100-point mark. This gave manager Pep Guardiola his first pieces of silverware with the club, having also won the League Cup – with perhaps the only blemishes in the season being a shock FA Cup loss at 2013 winners Wigan Athletic and a 5–1 aggregate loss to Liverpool in the Champions League quarter-finals. Finishing second were neighbours Manchester United, whose second season under Jose Mourinho finished with mixed success; whilst they improved on the previous league season and finished as runners-up in the FA Cup final, they never came close to challenging City for the title and also endured an early exit in the Champions League at the hands at Sevilla, though they did finish higher than fourth for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. Tottenham Hotspur successfully qualified for the Champions League once again, but this proved to be their only success in the season as they failed to win their first trophy in ten years – whilst early woes at their temporary home of Wembley saw the London club's hopes of challenging for the title diminish once again, with a loss of late form and fitness costing striker Harry Kane a third successive Golden Boot. A run of only three wins from their opening nine league games extinguished Liverpool's hopes of ending their 28-year wait for a league title; otherwise, their season proved to be a successful one as they ensured qualification for the Champions League once again, breaking the record for the most league seasons where they avoided defeat at Anfield, whilst summer signing Mohamed Salah narrowly broke the 22-year record for the most goals scored in a league season by scoring 32. Their biggest achievement, however, proved to be in the Champions League as they reached the final in Kiev against all odds – only narrowly losing to Real Madrid. Chelsea endured what proved to be a poor defence of their title and finished fifth, missing out on the Champions League once again – a woeful start to 2018 costing them a place in the top four despite four wins in their last six games (and making it the third season in a row where the defending champions failed to finish in the top four) and winning their first FA Cup since 2012. Arsenal were unable to send manager Arsene Wenger, who resigned after 22 years as manager, out on a high as they finished in their lowest league position under the Frenchman and missed out on trophies, most notably being knocked out of the Europa League in the semi-finals. Burnley proved to be the surprise package of the whole season as they mounted a charge for Champions League qualification and stood fifth at Christmas; whilst eleven games without a win saw them slide out of the top five, the Clarets recovered enough to secure seventh place and qualify for the Europa League. Everton and Leicester City looked set to battle relegation after poor starts to the season, but they rallied after the respective appointments of Sam Allardyce and Claude Puel, only missing out on the Europa League late on in the season. For only the third time in Premier League history, all three promoted teams avoided the drop; Newcastle United finished highest, a final day win against Chelsea earning them a tenth-place finish after a poor run of form. Brighton and Hove Albion's first top-flight campaign since 1983 saw the Seagulls finish below them, never being seriously threatened with immediate relegation despite a few scares. Arguably the biggest surprise of three, however, were Huddersfield Town – who defied all expectations and ensured Premier League survival in their first season in the top-flight for 45 years; whilst a dreadful goal-scoring record (having scored less than both Salah and Kane) and heavy losses both home and away threatened their hopes, key points gained at crucial stages helped push the Terriers away from the drop and towards safety in their penultimate game, a remarkable effort that earned the team and their American head coach David Wagner plenty of praise. Despite making the worst start in the history of English football, going into the October international break goalless and pointless after seven games, a resurgence under former England manager Roy Hodgson saw Crystal Palace extend their stay in the top-flight to a sixth successive season – steering well clear of relegation in the process. Whilst successfully ensuring a fourth consecutive season in the Premier League, Watford endured what proved to be another season of struggle – they did make a superb start, but their form spectacularly collapsed following what the club considered to be an "unwarranted approach" from Everton over head coach Marco Silva; the Hornets eventually pulled themselves over the finish line after a change of manager, but at the cost of question marks over the club's managerial turnover and their stability in the top-flight. West Bromwich Albion finished bottom, ending a run of eight years among the elite – a 20-game winless run from mid-August to January, and only winning just once after that left them rooted to last place, but a late run of form under caretaker manager Darren Moore that saw the Baggies take 11 points from their last six games at least saw them go down fighting, with relegation not being confirmed until the penultimate round of games. Stoke City finished just above them, bringing to an end a decade in the Premier League; the Potters' downfall ultimately proved to be both an anaemic goal record and an inability to see out a win, having dropped 19 points from winning positions all season and only finishing above West Brom with a final-day win. The final spot was taken by Swansea City, who endured their worst season since promotion in 2011: the Swans appeared to have been rejuvenated by the arrival of Portuguese manager Carlos Carvalhal after Christmas, but a loss of form in their last ten games saw the Welsh club overtaken by FA Cup semi-finalists Southampton, who endured a horrendous league season but stayed up thanks in part to the late appointment of Mark Hughes. Championship Following successive seasons of struggle and near-misses with relegation, Wolverhampton Wanderers ended their six-year absence from the Premier League in style, leading the table from Halloween onwards and giving Portuguese head coach Nuno Espírito Santo both promotion and the Championship title in his first season in charge. The fight for second place went down to the last round of games, but it was ultimately Cardiff City who emerged victorious and returned to the top-flight for the first time since 2014 – earning manager Neil Warnock a record eighth promotion, as his mixed team of young players and journeymen ensured a Welsh presence in the top-flight next season. Taking the final spot through the playoffs were Fulham, who had been relegated to the second-tier alongside Cardiff in 2014, as they beat Aston Villa in the playoff final at Wembley, their first visit to the stadium since 1975; this gave Serb manager Slavisa Jokanovic his second promotion to the Premier League in four seasons, having previously won promotion with Watford (albeit leaving the Hornets just weeks later) in 2015. Whilst a poor run of form in both December and the end of April ended their hopes of a second successive promotion, Sheffield United's first season in the second tier since 2011 proved to be an excellent one as they remained in the promotion chase for practically the entire season. Leeds United spent the first half of the season looking to build on their play-offs near-miss the previous year, but an appalling second half of the season saw them crash down the table, with only their strong early form and a couple of late wins keeping them from being involved in the relegation struggle. Both Reading and Sheffield Wednesday endured tough seasons after narrowly missing out on promotion the previous year, with only a change of manager for the two teams helping them avoid the drop into League One. Amid off-pitch struggles and growing anger towards owner Assem Allam, a fine second half of the campaign helped Hull City avoid a second successive relegation in a season awash with 140 goals, where they massively leaked goals but had no problem scoring them either – managing to score more than second-placed Cardiff City in the process. At the bottom of the table, Sunderland endured a second successive relegation and fell into the third tier for the first time in 30 years with just seven wins all season and an inability to turn any one of their staggering 16 draws into wins contributing to their downfall, despite the managerial presence of former Wales manager Chris Coleman. In a battle that went down to the closing minutes of the season, the remaining relegation spots were filled by Burton Albion and Barnsley, who both returned to League One after two seasons in the second tier – despite the Brewers securing three wins from their final four games and the Tykes actually starting their final game at Derby County outside the bottom three. This was mainly because of the heroics of Bolton Wanderers, who scored two late goals in two minutes to survive and relegate their fellow strugglers, a remarkable achievement considering their failure to win any of their first 11 games after promotion the previous season. League One For the second time in three years, Wigan Athletic won the League One title and returned to the Championship at the first attempt in style, having never looked like falling out of the top two all season and breaking their previous points total from 2016. Also achieving promotion were Blackburn Rovers, who finally enjoyed some success after 2 relegations in 5 years as they also made an immediate return to the Championship. In a tightly contested play-off final that went all the way to extra time, Rotherham United scraped past Shrewsbury Town to make it a hat-trick of immediate returns to the second tier – in almost exactly the same fashion they had won promotion to the second tier four years previously. This meant that for the first time ever since three clubs were allowed promotion in 1974, all three clubs relegated from the Championship the previous season were promoted the following season. Portsmouth continued their gradual climb back up the Football League by achieving a top-half finish, never being remotely threatened by an immediate relegation back to League Two – whilst they narrowly missed out on a second promotion in a row with only one win in their final six games, the signs were promising for the South-Coast club in their first season of ownership under former Walt Disney executive Michael Eisner. AFC Wimbledon, despite remaining in a relegation battle all season long and having won just five games between August and December, were able to secure a third successive season in the third tier – and also finished above rivals Milton Keynes Dons for the first time in their history, while also ensuring that the following season they would be playing in a higher division than the Dons for the first time. Three years after gaining promotion to League One, Bury finally ran out of luck and were the first team in the division to suffer relegation, winning just eight times. Having been tipped to regain the form that saw them enter the Championship three years previously, Milton Keynes Dons ultimately fared little better and fell into the bottom tier for the first time in a decade, changing managers three times and finishing well below rivals AFC Wimbledon as a result. Just two years after winning promotion to League One, Northampton Town's struggles continued as they fell back into the bottom tier of the Football League, with the worst defence in the division playing a big role. Taking the last spot in the last game were Oldham Athletic, who finally succumbed to the relegation they had been fighting against for the last couple of years, and fell into the bottom tier of the Football League for the first time in 47 years, also making this the first time since 1997 that they would be playing in anything other than the third tier. Both teams went down playing each other (and drawing 2–2), with Rochdale surviving by a single point. League Two Just 12 years after returning to the Football League, Accrington Stanley won promotion to the third tier for the first time in their history (their forerunners having last played in the third tier in 1960), an outstanding second half of the season propelling them from mid-table to the title – and securing promotion on the 130th anniversary of the Lancashire club's founding. Also going up were Luton Town, whose steady climb back up the Football League saw them return to League One for the first time in a decade; whilst a loss of form cost them the title having led the table for large periods of the season, the club saved some grace by being the highest-scoring team in the division. Taking the third automatic promotion spot in what proved to be a tight race were Wycombe Wanderers, who ended their six-year stay in League Two and finally gave manager Gareth Ainsworth the promotion he had sought after years of heart-break. The final promotion spot via the play-offs was filled by Coventry City, who secured an immediate return to League One in a season that saw them finish in the top six for the first time since 1970 and end a 51-year wait to achieve promotion - at the expense of Exeter City, the club losing in the play-off final for the second season running. Notts County enjoyed what proved to be their most successful season since winning promotion to League One in 2010 as they remained in the promotion race for the whole season, only missing out on a place in the play-off final after a controversial loss to Coventry City; furthermore, player-manager Kevin Nolan became the first Magpies manager to last a full season in charge for nine years. Lincoln City's first season back in the Football League since 2011 proved to be very successful as they not only attempted a second consecutive promotion by qualifying for the play-offs (losing to Exeter City), but they also won the Football League Trophy - beating Shrewsbury Town on their first ever visit to Wembley. A sharp downturn in form that saw them fail to win for 21 games resulted in Grimsby Town having to battle to keep their place in League Two, with only four late wins towards the end of the season helping them stay up. Having been tipped for immediate relegation, Forest Green Rovers achieved survival in their first ever season in the Football League – whilst a few heavy losses in the opening months left them stuck in the relegation zone, several bursts of good form at key stages in the season helped them up the table and secure their place in the closing weeks. After 97 years as a member of the Football League, Chesterfield's sharp decline in form continued as they endured a second successive relegation, just 4 years after winning promotion to League One; whilst a good run of form in the winter months gave the club hope, a poor start and an equally poor end to the season cost them their League status. Taking the second spot and enduring their second relegation from League Two in five years were Barnet, despite the return of Martin Allen for the fifth time as manager late in the season; whilst the club did put up more of a fight to avoid the drop, ending their season only relegated on goal difference, it once again proved to be too late. This made Barnet the first club to be automatically relegated from the Football League on three separate occasions, and the club to have survived the shortest after being promoted from the Conference (not counting Maidstone United, who also lasted just three seasons after promotion, but were forced out of the Football League by bankruptcy rather than being relegated). Morecambe narrowly escaped relegation on goal difference, despite having the weakest goal-scoring record in the division and winning less games than both relegated clubs, while Port Vale avoided a second successive relegation despite winning just twice at the turn of the year. National League Macclesfield Town were National League champions and won promotion back to League Two after a six-year absence from the Football League. Taking the second promotion spot in the first season to use six play-off places instead of four were Tranmere Rovers, who made amends for their previous play-off final loss the previous year and returned to the Football League after three years, in a tightly contested final with Boreham Wood. Leyton Orient and Hartlepool were the two teams relegated from the Football League the previous season, and neither achieved particular success, finishing 13th and 15 in the league respectively. Through much of the season, both looked more likely to be relegated again than to challenge for promotion and Hartlepool also endured struggles off the field, nearly going out of business altogether. Relegated from the league were Guiseley, Chester, Torquay United and Woking. Guiseley finished bottom of the table, picking up just seven wins and conceding the most goals in the league, seeing them relegated back to the National League North three years after being promoted. Chester and Torquay United both suffered financial uncertainty in addition to being relegated, the latter just a few years after having been in the Football League. Woking's relegation was not guaranteed until the final day of the season, when a defeat against Dover ensured they finished one point behind Barrow. League play-offs Football League play-offs EFL Championship =Final = Odoi |stadium=Wembley Stadium, London |attendance= 85,243 |referee= Anthony Taylor }} EFL League One =Final = |goals2=Rodman |stadium=Wembley Stadium, London |attendance=26,218 |referee=Robert Jones }} EFL League Two =Final = |goals2=Willis Shipley Grimmer |stadium=Wembley Stadium, London |attendance=50,196 |referee=David Webb }} National League play-offs National League =Final = * Norwood |goals2= * Andrade |stadium=Wembley Stadium, London |attendance=16,306 |referee= }} National League North =Final = National League South =Final = Cup competitions FA Cup Final |time = 17:15 BST |team1 = Chelsea |score = 1–0 |report = Report |team2 = Manchester United |goals1 = |goals2 = Hazard |stadium = Wembley Stadium, London |attendance = 87,647 |referee = Michael Oliver (Northumberland) }} EFL Cup Final |time = 16:30 GMT |team1 = Arsenal |score = 0–3 |report = Report |team2 = Manchester City |goals1 = |goals2 = Agüero Kompany D. Silva |stadium = Wembley Stadium, London |attendance = 85,671 |referee = Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire) }} Community Shield | goals2 = Moses | penaltyscore = 4–1 | penalties1 = Walcott Monreal Oxlade-Chamberlain Giroud | penalties2 = Cahill Courtois Morata |stadium = Wembley Stadium, London |attendance = 83,325 |referee = Bobby Madley (West Riding) }} EFL Trophy Final |time = 15:00 BST |team1 = Lincoln City |score = 1 - 0 |report = |team2 = Shrewsbury Town |goals1 = Whitehouse |goals2 = |stadium = Wembley Stadium, London |attendance = 41,261 |referee = Gavin Ward }} FA Trophy Final |goals2= Bugiel |stadium=Wembley Stadium, London |attendance= |referee= Chris Kavanagh |penalties1= Byrne Williams Diggin Armson G. Walker Brown |penaltyscore=5–4 |penalties2= Sutherland Raymond Hanlan Rees Bugiel Holland }} Category:English football seasons